P6 Operational Issues
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P6: Explain the operational issues in relation to the use of business information In this assignment, I will be explaining the operational issues in relation to the use of business information. I will be explaining the security of information, backups, healthy and safety, organisational policies, business continuance plans and costs. The business I will be using throughout the assignment is the John Lewis Partnership. Improving information management practice is a key focus for many organisations. Businesses receive millions of information and it is vital that they have system that ensures that the organisation receives the information it requires to operate efficiently and is received by the right member(s) of staff in the organisation. Information security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction.1 Information security management deals with maintaining the organisations information and knowledge. Many companies such as John Lewis keep their information on IT systems, but as may organisations tend to rely on technology as it increases, so does the risk of system failure and malicious attacks such as viruses and trojans. A security policy is a document that states in writing how a company plans to protect the company's physical and technological assets. The IT security policy should take account of the common risks of the information that their business relies on. This might include secure login ID for using the IT system and controls that limit access to information. John Lewis had told customers on their website that ‘We will treat all your
Personal Information as confidential (although we reserve the right to disclose this information in the circumstances set out below). We will keep it on a secure server and we will fully comply with all applicable UK Data Protection and consumer legislation from time to time in place.’ 2
John Lewis have a level SSL encryption technology in order for staff to access the information in order to make the transaction. John Lewis have also
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said on their website that they have the most advanced security software on their website in order for safe online transactions.2 Most businesses will have a backup system in place. John Lewis Partnership have back ups for internal data and customer data in case the systems crashes or breaks and the company loses its information. Large businesses have developed programmes to try to minimize the risk of losing vital information stored on IT service. This involves producing backups of information’s stored on the servers. Some organisations will create a backup every hour, while others will do so less frequently this means that if the live information is destroyed or damaged, a copy is available so the business can continue without disruption. These backups are stored on a separate hardware from the original version of information to ensure that the backup is not affected as well as with the main original information on the server. Computer equipment maybe unlikely to be quite dangerous itself however it can be used in ways in which it can be a hazard to health. Most office-based jobs require employees to spend a large amount of time sitting at their desk and working on a computer. Employers are legally required to take health and safety risks seriously. Examples of risks from using computers for a large amount of time is repetitive strain injury from bad posture and incorrect positioning of equipment (computers) or repetitive eye injury from looking at a screen for a long period of time. For example the company can provide adjustable chairs so that employees can adjust their chair in order for them to sit in right position to avoid any back strain injury. Employers must also be giving regular breaks to those employees who work on the computer for a long amount of hours. There are four main acts that legislate the use of computer equipment which must be complied to by all organisations these are3: o The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 o Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 o Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1992 o Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 Acts Employers should be carrying out regular workstation assessments in order to make sure that there are no health and safety risks for their employees.
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Organisational policies than can relate to business information in order to make sure that any decisions affecting staff: o are understandable and consistent o meet legal requirements o take full account of their impact o contribute to productive working relationships
Policies can help make sure that staff have guidance in order to help them comply with legislation (for example the Data Protection Act). They should also help ensure that consistent decisions are made, which can be as important in internal communications as they are in handling customers. Business continuance plans are steps put in place by the organisation to make sure they are capable of surviving a worst-case scenario, for example the organisation produces regular backups of all the information they hold. As a result of the plan, employees may need to change the way they work, for example, storing information centrally rather than on their own personal hard-drive. The business might consider natural disasters such as floods, fires, human errors, or malicious attacks such as viruses this is when they will use the continuance plan. For example John Lewis uses ‘Continuity planning associates’ to organise their continuance planning. This was taken from a John Lewis brochure from the ‘Continuity planning associates’ website about how John Lewis decided to take up getting the policy after recognising that they need after they encountered threats such as the power failure system.
‘JLP recognised the risks it faced in the event that threats became a reality. For example in a prolonged power failure of about twelve hours in a large department store, although generators will back up essentials such as lighting and IT, only minimal amounts of heating and ventilation, lifts and escalators can be supported.’4 Most businesses would like to implement the above policies but there are always costs involved in order to do this. When deciding what policies to take on board and what measures to take, businesses need to consider the implementation and maintenance cost versus the way it benefits the organisation. Some key considerations the business will consider are: o Whether additional resources needed – whether the business would need to purchase new equipment or employ additional staff.
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o The cost of development: is the solution already available (off-the-shelf product/service) or will they need to develop it themselves. Increasing sophistication; as security technology is becoming much more advanced, the reliance of technology has increased this means organisations must train their employees on how to use it. If this does not happen the equipment or technology becomes less effective as staff will not understand how to use it properly which may lead to employees’ not recording customers’ contacts correctly, or may miss out vital information, making the new system less effective this may cause a loss or incur problems for the organisation.
Bibliography: 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_security 2 http://www.johnlewis.com/customer-services/security-privacy 3 Edexcel, Business Book 1, Level 3, John Bevan, 2010 4 http://www.cpa-ltd.com/casestudies.htm EBook: http://issuu.com/sheena1996/docs/p6_sheena_patel
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